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Trial to Begin for Georgia University Student Accused in Jihad Plot

This scenario seems to be a recurring one: Federal prosecutors say Syed Haris Ahmed is clearly a terrorist. The defense is saying he was just talking and had no intention of being a terrorist. A jury in Atlanta will decide which is right.

By GREG BLUESTEIN
Associated Press WriterATLANTA — Armed with a handheld video camera, a Georgia university student drove with a friend in April 2005 to Washington, D.C., and captured scenes of the Capitol, the Pentagon and other locations.

Investigators say Syed Haris Ahmed, now 24, wasn’t a tourist but a wannabe terrorist who wanted to send the videos of potential terror targets to an overseas contact. He was attending the Georgia Institute of Technology at the time.

The charges are central to a federal terrorism case against him that is set to begin Monday, and he could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Ahmed is also accused of going to Pakistan and trying to join a terrorism group a few months later, but prosecutors are not pursuing formal charges on that allegation.

His attorney, Jack Martin, contends the federal charges are little more than “imprudent talk” and that investigators have no evidence that Ahmed, who was born in Pakistan, has committed any terrorist act.